Feel Summer Joy Again

Spring flowers are blooming, songbirds are singing, the days are getting longer and warmer, yet you're enjoying it all less and less. What's the matter? It could be summer seasonal affective disorder or summer SAD.

Less common than the more familiar winter SAD, summer SAD is more widespread than once believed, according to seasonal disorders expert Norman E.Rosenthal, MD, clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and author of Winter Blues (Guilford, 1998).

Besides depression, those with summer SAD are agitated, unable to sleep, and disinterested in food.

"We don't know what causes summer SAD; it could be the increased light or the heat," says Dr. Rosenthal, who notes that the disorder is more common in the South than in the North and may be increasingly widespread due to global warming.

These steps can help:

Lower the shades and boost the air-conditioning. Some people feel better when it's dark and cool indoors.
Ask for a prescription. "Antidepressants can ease symptoms considerably," Dr. Rosenthal explains. "It's the mainstay treatment."
Get a thyroid check. There's some evidence that people with summer SAD are more likely to have low thyroid function than those without the disorder. Ask your doctor to test your thyroid function.
Quick Tip
Starting antidepressants in late winter may prevent summer SAD.